In Iraqi Kurdistan, there is a growing debate over a potential second term for Barham Salih, the president of the Republic of Iraq. This matter has led to polarization in Kurdish politics and society, and it could destabilize relations between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic...
A new cold war between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates is playing out across the Middle East and North Africa
There is a strange irony to the latest Turkish offensive announced in northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan couched it on his Twitter feed as a move that will “preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and liberate local communities from terrorists.” Yet the creation of a “safe...
Over the last few weeks, the northwestern area of Idlib province in Syria has come under constant bombardment from regime forces and its allies. With a disturbing civilian casualty count mounting and a nation in upheaval after years of civil war, waning global attention is causing concern that one...
In the Middle East, frontlines and tactics may be shifting, but US and Gulf geopolitical goals have not. Donald Trump’s threat to “devastate” the Turkish economy if Ankara attacks Syrian Kurds serves his broader goal of letting regional forces fight for common goals, like countering...
What makes international law particularly relevant to Kurdistan is that in order to recognize one, we must recognize the other. The South China Sea is a contentious flashpoint for China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand, all of whom lay claim over the waters. If...
President Erdogan’s goal is to stamp his legacy into the story of Turkey for all time. The recent election in Turkey has proved thought-provoking if nothing else. Unable to gain an overall majority in the country’s June general election, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for...
The future of Turkey hangs in the balance, and society is more polarized than it has ever been under the AKP. Since the general election of June 2015, which led to a hung parliament, Turkey has found itself embroiled in three instances of terrorism. In each case, the disproportionate victims...
President Erdogan’s security policy threatens to undermine the ruling party ahead of November’s election. Security has significantly worsened in Turkey since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to secure a majority in the June parliamentary election. The resumption of full-scale...
Critics say the Turkish government’s real goal is to limit the influence of Kurdish groups like the PKK and YPG. In response to a suicide bombing on July 20 at a cultural center in Suruc in southeastern Turkey and the subsequent shooting of a Turkish soldier, the Turkish military has for the...
In their latest deal to fight IS, the US and Turkey are treating the Middle East’s largest stateless minority like pawns. Let’s mix some metaphors in the Middle East, all of them involving elephants. In the crisis zone that encompasses Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, the Kurds are the...
Recent developments in Iraq make an independent Kurdistan seem all but inevitable. The leadership of all five major Kurdish political parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq know, as democratically elected representatives, that the independence of Kurdistan is an uncompromisable demand and the...
Cometh the hour, cometh Erdogan — but there is much in 2015 that can still trip up the president’s plans for a new Turkey. The year ahead is one in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is keen to consolidate the gains of 2014 by institutionalizing reforms he believes will create...
International support for Kurds, especially the beleaguered people of Kobane, is at an all-time high. Across Turkey, the plight of Kobane — a Syrian border town — is on everyone’s mind. On October 7, thousands hit the streets to protest the Turkish government’s lack of action against...
Lorenzo Giroffi, an Italian filmmaker, takes us on a trip across the Kurdish heartland. Kurdistan is in the news. As Islamic State extremists battle Kurdish armed forces and Iraqi soldiers, one might assume that Kurdistan is a region plagued by death and destruction. But the Kurdish homeland,...
